Polyscias, Black Aralia 'Blackie'

I've been growing this outdoors in South Florida for over 30 years, along with several other varieties of polyscias, and have found that ...Read More"Blackie" is the easiest and least bothered by cold. The foliage is so unique and beautiful that I simply can't discard clippings after trimming, so I always root extras, usually in sand alone, with over 90% success rate. My original "Blackie" is at a former residence near Homestead and I've lost track of it over the years, but the cutting I brought to Fort Lauderdale in my last move, nearly 25 years ago, is almost 10 feet tall and vigorous, in a partially shaded position in a narrow strip of yard, approx 10 feet between the house and a 6-foot fence. "Blackie" is about 2ft from the fence in a slightly raised surrounded by aglaoneomas, spathiphyllums, dieffenbachias and ZZ plant, all in the partial shade of a Silver Buttowood. "Blackie", however, has grown tall enough that the top third is in full sun for several hours a day. Reports of leaf loss or damage below 50 degrees F are greatly exaggerated, at least in my experience. Our coldest nights generally dip to near 40, and sometimes even into the 30s - and even then that's normally only maybe 2 or 3 nights a year, but "Blackie" is a trooper and has done just fine. A couple of particularly harsh winters in which the temps dropped to near-freezing, with wind chills into the upper 20s, only seemed to give the leaves an even darker color, but not quite black. There was a little bit of leaf drop afterwards but the majority of the leaves survived.
A cutting from this plant, planted by a friend at the protected entrance to his townhouse, is nearly as large as mine after about 10 years.
This makes such an unusual and beautiful bonsai-looking, yet strikingly vertical miniature tree with strongly upright, yet slightly twisted and curving branches and trunk. The crinkled leaves are so shiny and crispy that they look almost like plastic. It never fails to draw comments from visitors.
Another interesting aspect, in my experience, is that on a couple of occasions it has produced "sports" with leaves less crinkled than the mother plant. These aberrations are beautiful in their own right. The leaves have lost the crinkled character, so they are flatter but still compounded yet retain the highly glossy blackish color. Cuttings from the sports aren't as vigorous as the original, growing twice as slowly and still only about 3ft tall after 10 or so years, but they are in pots rather than open ground, and grown in deeper shade so that could be reason for the less vigorous growth rate. Although slower growing, they seem to keep the general vigor and cold hardiness of the parent.
I've had similar success with a half dozen other varieties of polyscias grown out in the yard here but this one, along with balfouriana, are my favorites because they're so rarely seen. And so easy to grow!

In addition to the info already provided, I have been growing and propagating Aralias for 40 years. Minimum temperature is upper 50's. I ...Read Moreroot all of mine in rain water and red glass bottles. Tried blue, green and clear (do not root as successfully or as fast). Slower to root than Parsley, Balfor, Ming, Fabian Aralias and their variegated counterparts. I am looking for a dinner plate Aralia, anybody know of where to get one here in the states?

Polyscias grow to large heights in the tropics, but make terrific indoor plants in cooler regions.

Blackie has a deep gre...Read Moreen color, quite unusual, and prefers bright indoor light.

Allow to become almost dry between waterings.

Easily propagated by taking cuttings in the warmer months. Mist often until rooted.